Strange Brew

Even with healthy dashes of reform measures and local bills, this year's legislative mug will overflow with budgetary bitters

If Louisiana's term-limit law doesn't go far enough for your
political palate, Sen. Buddy Shaw has the concoction you want. Take one
swig of the Shreveport Republican's proposed constitutional amendment
and you'll confine lawmakers to three consecutive terms in the
Legislature, regardless of the chamber to which they're elected.

Right now, legislators can chamber-hop after three terms
in the House or Senate, which some say constitutes an end-run around
the spirit of term limits. Shaw's Senate Bill 59 would close the door
on that possibility. If nothing else, his proposal sounds like a
clarion call for radio talk show listeners who, in the wake of last
year's legislative pay raise ruckus, can't wait to gnaw on lawmakers'
hides some more.

Shaw's term-limit measure is just one of many bills sure
to generate lots of attention during the legislative session that
begins next Monday (April 27). Another is House Bill 169 by Rep. Wayne
Waddell, also a Republican from Shreveport, which would force Gov.
Bobby Jindal to open more records in his office to the public. Rep.
Neil Abramson, a New Orleans Democrat, is likewise targeting the Fourth
Floor with a yet-to-be-filed bill that would require Jindal to disclose
all the money donated to his campaign by political appointees.

Lawmakers have a wide-open field to serve up additional
political reforms this year, and that should generate just as much, if
not more, excitement than Jindal's special session on ethics last year.
So far the hottest item is a proposal by Rep. Steve Carter, a Baton
Rouge Republican, to reform local school boards. Carter will be joined
by the Council for A Better Louisiana and the Louisiana Association of
Business and Industry in support of bills to impose term limits and
less pay on local school board members — and give more autonomy
to local school superintendents.

As far-reaching as those policy proposals may be, the
top-shelf debate of the session will be the Jindal administration's
$26.7 billion budget. It promises to be a source of intrigue,
speculation and tension throughout the session, starting with a
projected $1.3 billion shortfall. Time is short. The session's last
call must come no later than 6 p.m. on June 25, days before the new
budget takes effect on July 1.

Practically everything that transpires between
lawmakers, special interests and the executive branch will revolve
around the budget negotiations. In fact, budget reductions are expected
to reach into every nook and cranny of state government, ranging from a
56 percent decrease in Louisiana's arts programs to massive cuts in
health care and higher education. Because virtually every constituency
in the state is on the chopping block, and because Jindal has made the
cuts a line in the dirt, he and his aides will be fighting a
multi-tiered war on several fronts at once.

For example, during last week's meetings of the House
Appropriations Committee, Rep. Karen Carter Peterson, a New Orleans
Democrat, ripped into the administration for its inconsistent approach
to budget drafting. Peterson says the administration wants to use
temporary revenues to bankroll long-term programs in the Department of
Health and Hospitals — a practice Jindal promised last year he
would avoid. Peterson and others seem keen on making the governor keep
his word. "We are not going to move forward in this way," she says. "We
are going to be fiscally responsible."

There's also a revolt afoot regarding the Department of
Agriculture and Forestry. Commissioner Mike Strain says the $15 million
in cuts directed at his department will result in the elimination of
more than 230 jobs, including 75 firefighters and more than 20
inspectors for seed, fertilizer and pesticides. In response, members of
the Rural Caucus and Acadian Delegation, who collectively comprise more
than 75 percent of the legislative membership, are vowing to stick
together to block some of those proposed reductions. "When the caucuses
stand together, not a single bill can pass without them," Strain
says.

The most painful cuts are slated for health care and
education, both of which have impassioned constituencies ready to storm
the state Capitol at a moment's notice. The reality of health care and
higher education traditionally shouldering the most reductions
transpires because half of the state's $9.7 billion general fund is
dedicated to specific purposes other than health care and
education. The other half, which supports colleges and hospitals,
is perpetually the most vulnerable to cuts during tough times such as
these.

Jindal seems poised to change that paradigm, and that's
worth toasting. He has thrown his support behind a set of proposed
constitutional amendments that would allow further reductions in the
"nondiscretionary" portion of the general fund. "The current system of
state government is too inefficient in too many areas," Jindal says.
"It spends too much for too little result. We are in desperate need of
common-sense reforms that will allow us to control spending and make
government more efficient."

While that sounds like a needed change, there is a
downside: If approved by lawmakers and voters, the constitutional
amendments won't take effect until the 2010-11 fiscal year. In the
meantime, lawmakers are looking for ways to save health care and
education now. Many favor raiding two sacred-cow funds: the
Rainy Day Fund, which has $775 million, and a $775 million fund set
aside to lure large-scale economic development projects.

Jindal cautions that future fiscal years are already
forecast to be worse, and the money Louisiana will sip from the federal
stimulus cup will run out in two years. Meanwhile, the governor wants
to use the state's economic development project fund on a few deals
this year, including $50 million to help swing the sale of the
Pilgrim's Pride chicken-processing plant in Farmerville.

For the governor, it's going to be a scrappy session.
While the federal stimulus money comes at an opportune time, Jindal's
decision to refuse parts of the money (particularly new unemployment
compensation benefits) could pit Democratic lawmakers against business
interests and the governor. So far, the U.S. Department of Labor is
standing with Democratic lawmakers, who want to accept the stimulus
cash by passing unemployment compensation laws that they intend to
repeal in two years. "Jindal could be on the wrong side of this one,"
says Rodney Grunes, chairman of the political science department at
Centenary College in Shreveport.

Jindal also will be battling Republicans to control the
pour of budgetary brew. Some GOP leges will push for tax breaks and new
incentives during a cash-strapped year. Jindal has stood firm against
tax increases, but he hasn't indicated how he will handle incentives
and breaks, which would likely create more debt for the state.

Some tax incentives and breaks could mark Louisiana's
official start to being green. Among the proposals are tax credits for
businesses to incorporate wind or solar energy (House Bill 32),
programs for compressed natural gas vehicles (House Bill 110), and
incentives for reducing carbon-dioxide emissions by later using the CO2
in oil exploration (Senate Bill 10).

Like everything else filed for debate, these bills will
be competing for attention against hundreds if not thousands of other
"worthy" measures. Such bills include proposals to increase penalties
against drunk drivers and sex offenders, a renewed push to increase the
homestead exemptions and create tax-exempt holidays, and a slew of
constitutional measures, including one that could lead to a
full-fledged constitutional convention.

There's just no telling what you're going to get when
our legislative mixologists start pouring their own call brands. Some
of the bills up for discussion will make sense (House Bill 378 by Rep.
Charmaine Marchand Stiaes, D-New Orleans, suspends foreclosure
proceedings during natural disasters); others won't (House Bill 137 by
Rep. John LaBruzzo, R-Metairie, expands drug testing for adult
recipients of public assistance). A few seem tailor-made for grabbing
headlines (House Bill 383 by Rep. Walker Hines, D-New Orleans, requires
neglectful parents to perform community service, and House Bill 400 by
Rep. Patrick Williams, D-Shreveport, forces physical activity upon
students).

From reforming parish school boards and managing a $1.3
billion deficit to increasing applications for solar power and catching
potheads on welfare, the session that starts next week promises to
produce a strange brew indeed. Of course, that only means that the
hangover (read: the next fiscal year) could be more painful than
ever.